Cave of Second Chances
by pleurocoelus
Summary: Harry's best friend Draco has been working against him from the beginning. When the Weasley girl is killed and Voldemort is resurrected, Harry learns the truth. Years later, the war is going badly for the light. Harry finds a cave that might allow him to undo all the damage he unwittingly caused, if he is lucky. Time travel. Eventual H/G
1. 00: Prologue

_Disclaimer:_

_JK Rowling owns all this. I'm just repurposing the characters._

**Prologue:**

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_Be courteous to all, but intimate with few, and let those few be well tried before you give them your confidence.  
True friendship is a plant of slow growth, and must undergo and withstand the shocks of adversity before it is entitled to the appellation._

_George Washington_

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Five year old Draco Malfoy opened the door to his father's study, concealing the nervousness that he felt.

"Ah, yes," said Lucius. "Gentlemen, this is my son Draco. Draco, these are my associates Mr. Nott, Mr. Crabbe, and Mr. Goyle. These young men are their sons: Theodore, Vincent, and Gregory. They have come to join you for your special lessons."

Lucius motioned for Draco to join the other boys, then he began to teach the assembled group - their fathers watching with curiosity. "Do you know what the highest form of life is?" When he saw that only Draco was ready to answer, Lucius motioned to him.

"The human being." Draco answered.

"That is correct my son. And could you tell your new friends what is the highest form of human being?"

"The wizard," Draco replied.

"And what is the highest form of wizard?"

Draco replied with increased confidence: "Those of pure blood."

Lucius smiled at his son. "That is correct Draco. You boys would do well to remember that. Those of us of pure blood are indeed the highest form of wizard. However, we cannot afford to ignore those of lesser blood. Though they do not have the purity that we do, they may still have intelligence and even power.

"You must not also forget that Muggles have themselves invented fiendishly clever weapons, creatures of mud though they are. Nor should you underestimate such creatures as goblins, elves, and centaurs. They too have power."

Lucius paused to allow the boys to consider his instruction before calling out to one of his house-elves: "Dobby!"

The miserable creature appeared, wringing his ears.

"Dobby," Lucius said, "I wish you to locate a Muggle military base and then to procure for me an example of the Muggle weapon known as an 'automatic rifle.' Make sure it is fully loaded with its..." he sneered, "_Ammunition_. Now!"

The elf popped out of the room and within less than a minute it returned with an oddly shaped black object which he handed to his Master.

"Gentlemen, in an effort to understand the creatures that we must control, I have made somewhat of a study of these Muggle weapons. I wish you to view the devastation that Muggle weapons can produce."

Lucius turned toward a wall that was covered with paintings. He checked the safety, flipped it to fully automatic fire, placed the stock to his shoulder, took aim at a painting, and squeezed the trigger."

The only being in the room that was not surprised by the sudden outburst of noise and destruction was Lucius himself.

Lucius set the rifle down on a table and then addressed his guests. "Gentlemen, you see while not as destructive or as powerful as magic is capable of being, this device is certainly capable of inflicting plenty of devastation.

"Dobby, repair that damage and then take this _rifle_ back to where you got it. After that, you may return to your normal duties"

In a few short moments, the elf was gone and the room looked as though nothing had happened.

Lucius now turned to address only the boys. "You also see here the power of the lowly house-elf. While it is right and proper that they serve us, we must never forget that they do possess tremendous power. We may use their power to our benefit, but we must never forget that it is there.

"I wish you boys to understand something. You must never underestimate your opponent. Even those who are of lower ability than you are may still catch you by surprise if you underestimate them."

The boys nodded their understanding.

"Now," Lucius said, "You will be coming over here for the foreseeable future one day per week so that I may give you special instruction in an area of particular expertise that I have.

"You see, my young wizards, not every wizard understands the truth of the superiority of the pure-blood Wizard. There are those within our community who would seek to elevate mudbloods to equal status with us. There are even some of pure blood who agree with that despicable sentiment.

"Unfortunately for our just cause those individuals are currently occupying positions of power thanks to the Potter infant and his defeat of the Dark Lord. Therefore, those of us who know the truth must tread cautiously. We must move among them pretending to be them, pretending to agree with them. We must publically repudiate that which we know to be true. This is why you must learn the Art of Deception.

"You must understand this from the beginning: you cannot hope to fool me. I have studied this art since long before you were born and have been its master for many years. You would be wise to learn that you cannot use what I teach you against me. You should also take care not to use it against any who support our cause. Against the mudbloods, the Muggles, and their blood traitor allies, however, it will make the most potent weapon."

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_A/N:_

_There you have it. In case you hadn't guessed, this is not one of those stories where Draco is a nice guy. There are no "leather pants" here. I do have a good!Draco story and an antihero!Draco story in the works, but no promises on when._

_We'll have a bit of the original timeline before the time travel occurs. Once Harry does his Peggy-Sue (that's mental time travel into your younger body for those who don't know the term) you might appreciate the background info because this will not be the standard method of memory transfer._

_Regards,_  
_pleurocoelus_


	2. 01: Diagon Alley

A/N:

This is where the divergence from canon really begins in earnest.

Remember, this Draco isn't nice. He doesn't see the light later on.

JKR owns all this. I'm just repurposing the characters.

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Harry walked into Madam Malkin's and was greeted by the squat woman. She directed him to stand on a footstool next to a boy with blond hair who seemed to be about his age.

"Hi, my name is Draco. What's yours?" the boy asked.

"I'm Harry. Are you starting Hogwarts this year too?"

"Yes, I am," the boy said with a smile. "So, are you new to our community?"

"I am, but my family is not. My parents were a witch and a wizard, but they died when I was young so I was raised by some relatives who are Muggles."

Harry lowered his eyes when he thought of the parents he could not remember. If he had kept looking at Draco, he might have noticed an evil grin that quickly stole over Draco's face and just as quickly vanished.

"I guess you must know all about eklektricity and arrow planes, then."

Harry's face was still downcast when he replied: "Yeah, I guess I do."

Draco's voice became more forceful. "Harry, don't let anyone look down on you for having Muggle relatives. I know all about people looking down on you."

Oh, you have Muggle relatives too?" Harry asked, looking up.

"No, my family is what are called pure-bloods. To my knowledge, I have no Muggle relatives. No, some people look down on me because of some mistakes my father made when he was younger. Did anyone tell you about... He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named?"

"I think so," replied Harry. "You mean Vol... I mean You-Know-Who?"

Everyone but Harry had winced when he began to say Voldemort's name.

"Yes, him," Draco continued. "He had fooled a lot of people into following him back when he started. If they tried to get away, though, he would use an evil curse to take away their free will and make them follow him. By the time they realized that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was evil, it was too late. He would use the Imperius Curse to make them follow him against their will."

"That's terrible!" replied a shocked Harry.

"I know. Father and a lot of other wizards and witches began following him because they thought he was a reformer who wanted to fix some injustices in our society. Then when they saw that he was a madman, it was too late and he had cast the Imperius Curse on them forcing them to obey him. He was so powerful that once he put you under the Imperius, you were his forever. They were all freed when he was destroyed by Harry Pot…ter."

Draco's eyes grew wide. "I say, you're not Harry Potter are you?"

Harry lifted the fringe of his hair to reveal his distinctive scar. "Yeah, I am."

Draco's face filled with gratitude. "Thank you! Thank you for freeing my father from that madman's control!" Harry felt his cheeks blushing at Draco's gushing praise. The blond boy continued for a while before lapsing into awkward silence.

Harry was unsure of what to say after that, so when Madam Malkin indicated that he was done, he hopped down from the footstool and paid the witch. When she indicated Hagrid standing outside holding two large ice creams, Harry turned to Draco. "I guess I'll see you at Hogwarts, then."

"Look for me on the Hogwarts Express. It was really good to meet you!" Draco called after Harry as he was leaving.

As the door closed, Draco could hear Harry tell Hagrid: "Hagrid, I think I may have just made a friend in there."

"It _was_ really good to meet you," Draco thought with a silent chuckle.

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As soon as the Malfoy family was back in the privacy of their own home, Draco turned to his father with a smug smile on his face. "You'll never guess what happened today. While I was in Madam Malkin's I met Harry Potter."

Lucius turned a cold and calculating gaze on his son. "Were you friendly to him?"

"Of course I was. I acted just like you taught me to be when meeting new children. I was shy, yet friendly. I told the story you taught me about how you and others were fooled, then Imperiused by the Dark Lord. I also spoke in a positive manner about Muggles."

Lucius smiled at his son. "Did he seem glad to make your acquaintance?"

"He did. I overheard him telling someone as he left that he may have made a friend in Madam Malkin's. I think it was that oaf, Hagrid."

"Excellent, my son. You should seek him on the Hogwarts Express and make sure he sees you as a friend. Be sure to be subtle as I have taught you. If you can _help_ him to see the advantages to being in Slytherin House, it would be to our tremendous advantage.

Lucius smiled as he retreated to his study. It would be very good to gain influence over "The Boy Who Lived." This was even better than his original plans for teaching Draco and the other boys the Art of Deception.

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_A/N:_

_I felt like writing some more. Remember, just because I don't shamelessly beg for reviews doesn't mean that I don't like them._

_What did you think of Draco's "Arrow planes" for aeroplanes/airplanes?_

_Constructive criticism and Brit picking is always appreciated. Flames will be laughed at._

_Sorry the chapters are so short. I'm hoping to work up to longer chapters. I suppose I could have combined this with other planned chapters, but this seemed to be a natural ending point. In your opinion, what is a good length for a chapter to be? Obviously, I don't want them to be too long; I hate chapters that drag on and on. However, that is not a problem yet. I'm aiming for around 3000 words per chapter as my eventual goal. _

_Regards,  
pleurocoelus_


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